Where's the midwifery in midwife-led care?

Abstract

THE PURPOSE OF THIS ARTICLE isto share some of our insights and thoughtsabout midwife-led care (MLC) which havearisen whilst engaged in an action researchproject recently.As a result of a new hospital being builtlocally where all current in-patient serviceswould be centralised, many concerns wereexpressed over the future of the midwife-ledunit (Deery et ai, 1999). This was accommodatedin separate facilities to the obstetric-led unit and enjoyed a good reputationand increasing use by local women and midwives.Part of the reconfiguration of serviceslocally meant that this unit would,from 200 1, share the same geographicallocation with the obstetric-led unit.